The slowly moving stadium process in San Jose appears to heading in the right direction again. On March 3, the team will take the first step necessary to clear the property for soccer facility near the airport. The team has been planning the stadium for a long time and has repeatedly requested additional municipal assistance. San Jose officials recently recommended a four million dollar gift to Lew Wolff and team to assist in constructing the facility. The stadium is planned near the San Jose Airport and will reportedly required two years to construct from the date of the ground breaking. The funding for the planned stadium has always been a bit fuzzy. The city of San Jose had previously agreed to chop $40 million off the purchase price of a 75 acre parcel that will include the Stadium and additional mixed use development. The stadium will seat 15,000 (with additional seating for 3,000 more on a berm at the stadium’s open end) and will use 14 acres of the site.

According to an interview with MLSSoccer.com, Red Bulls Managing Director Erik Stover believes the team is closing in on the 8,200 season tickets sold last year. With a month until First Kick, Stover believes that the team can surpass that 8,200 and make a run at 10,000. 10k would be an impressive season ticket base for the team and would place the franchise in the “upper middle” of league season tickets. Stover also indicated that the team has tripled its number of sponsors this year. These additional sponsorships represent a significant change in direction for a team that had largely shunned sponsors in the past.

One final note from Philly. The Delco Times is reporting that PPL Park brought almost 600 additional jobs to the area. The article also intimated that the relationship with Bimbo will bring further jobs to the County.